Fire escape



April 20, 1937. A. .1. LE BLANC 2,073,146

FIRE ESCAPE Filed Jan. 3, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l ,zyz.

ATTORNEY April 1937- A. J. LE BLANC 2,078,146

FIRE ESCAPE Filed Jan. a, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r 29 1 v 1 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 20, 1937 PATENT OFFICE FIRE ESCAPE Alphonse 'J. Le

Blanc, Little Brook Station, Nova Scotia, Canada Application January 3, 1936, Serial No. 57,419

2 Claims.

This invention relates to fire vescapes and has for the primary object the provision of a .device of this. character which will be inexpensive to manufacture and install and may be installed in any convenient place within a room of a building and normally concealed from view and may be easily and quickly brought into use and adapted to a person so that the person may be, either lowered to a place of safety in case of fire or may 1o be easily actuated by the person to whom it is applied so that said person may descend to the place ofsafety withease.

With these and other objects in view, this invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

.For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 illustrates a fragmentary sectional view of a building equipped with a fire escape showing a person being lowered thereby and under the control. of said person. A

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view partly in section showing the connection of the fire escape of a building and the position assumed thereby while in operation.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevational view showing a modified form of my invention wherein the mounting of the fire escape is located in the wall some distance from a window.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modified form of my invention adapted to the ceiling of a room.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing my invention adapted to a floor of a room.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing another modified form of my invention.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a rope retaining element to support a rope forming part of the fire escape between the inner and outer walls of a building.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure '7, showing the member in its full adjusted or operative position.

Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the member before application to the building.

Figure 10 is a. perspective view illustrating an- 5 other modified form of my invention that is a member for supporting the rope of the fire escape between the inner and outer walls of the building.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary perspective view 55 showing the form of member illustrated in Figure 10 in operative position between the inner and outer walls of the building.

Figure 12 is a sectional view taken on the line |2-l2 of Figure 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral I indicates a casing in which a part of a fire escape is to be housed and provides an anchorage for the fire escape to a building 2. The casing I may be built into the building or located in said building by forming an opening in a wall of the building, ceiling of said building or the flooring thereof. The location of the easing l in a room of the building isclearly shown in Figures 1, 3, 4 and 5. The bottom of the casing l is fully open, as shown at 3, and located between the inner and outer walls of the building andthe front of said casing is also open and normally closed by a door 4 which may be readily swung to an open position allowing a person to obtain the fire escape between the walls of the building and to position said fire escape in operative position outside of the building by passing the same through a window or the like.

In one form of my invention, as shown in Figure 1, a curved frame 5 is pivotally mounted in 25 the casing l and may be swung into and out of said casing, as shown in Figure l. The frame 5 carries spaced rollers 6, one of which has the cable or flexible element 1 of the fire escape passed thereover while the other roller 6 acts as 30 a guide for said flexible element when in an operative position. When the frame 5 is swung into the casing, the fire escape may lie between the inner and outer walls of the building and be supported by a trough 8 or a member 9 may be 35 placed between the inner and outer walls by boring an opening in the building, as shown in Figure 7. The member 9 has resilient portions l0 adapted to spread after the member 9 has been passed through the opening to contact the inner and outer walls and thereby form a trough for supporting the fire escape concealed between the walls. One end of the member 9 has a tine II which may be driven into a part of the building for retaining the member 9 in a secured position. The member 9 instead of having the resilient portion I 0 may have a spirally wound strip l2 secured thereto which will expand and contact the inner and outer walls of the building, as shown in Figure 11.

Instead of employing the frame 5 in the casing l, spaced rollers l3 may be journaled in said casing over which the flexible element 1 of the fire escape may pass or the casing I may have secured thereto a suspension flexible element l4 carrying ring I9 and its opposite end may be detachabl'y" connected to said ring after passing about a persons body. The body encircling element I6 also has additional rings 20 whereby said element I6 may be adjusted to persons of different sizes. The suspension element I! is connected to the ring I9 and is equipped with a series of eyes 2I any one of which may have detachably secured thereto the stirrups I8. The flexible element I after passing over the suspending means heretofore described in detail and in several forms passes through the ring I9 and one end thereof has a ring 23 connected thereto carrying a hook 24. The flexible element I after passing through the ring I9 is passed through the hook 24 and with the body encircling element I6 and the stirrups I8 applied to a person, said person by grasping the flexible element I after passing through the hook 24 may lower himself by gradually feeding out on the flexible element. The ring 23 is connected to the ring I9 by a flexible element 24'.

A device of the character described is inexpensive to manufacture and is easily brought into operation and adapted to a person whereby said person may lower himself in safety or be lowered by someone else. Further, a device of this character may be installed any place selected within mama a room of a building preferably adjacent a window and when not in use is concealed from view, however, the concealment is such that the fire escape is readily accessible in case of an emergency.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. A fire escape comprising a casing mounted in a room adjacent to a window of a building and having its front open, a door hinged to said cas ing for closing the latter, a curved frame pivotally mounted in said casing, said frame being swingable to an operative position exteriorl'y of the casing, rollers carried by said frame, a sling construction trained over said rollers, said casing having its bottom open and located between inner and outer walls of a building to permit the sling construction to be confined between said walls when not in use, and means for supporting the sling construction between said walls.

2. A fire escape comprising a casing mounted in a room adjacent to a window of a building and having its front open, a door hinged to said casing for closing the latter, a curved frame pivotally mounted in said casing, rollers carried by said frame, said frame being normally dependent within the casing when in inoperative position and swingable to a position extending upwardly and outwardly of the casing when in operative position, a sling construction trained over said rollers, said casing having its bottom open and located between inner and outer walls of a building to permit the sling construction to be confined between said walls when not in use, a member secured between said walls, an expansible member carried by said first member to contact the inner and outer walls of the building forming a holder for the sling.

ALPHONSE J. LE BLANC. 

